Interview with Cora 66 year old Grandmother.
"It was fine as long as I was doing what I was told. As long as I was plugged into what someone else had put forth, it was no problem. But when I wanted to do something on my own, it was a different story. The last thing I tried to do was start a little group to help the elderly people in our congregation, where we would just go and mow lawns and wash windows and things for people who needed it. But that never came about. There were so many rules and regulations just to mow lawns that I backed off of it. It’s weird, because we were such a big church you would think this little thing would be easy. But I talked to the missions minister, and he told me to come up with a name for my group, propose a budget, write a mission statement, come to the board hearing, and figure out a way to report back every month. I told him, “Really? I just want to mow lawns. Why do we have to do all that?”He told me the board didn’t like things going on in the church unless they could oversee them. And here’s the kicker: They weren’t offering me anything in return. No budget, no help recruiting or organizing. It was just about control. So by that time, I was like, “OK, never mind. I’ll just do this on my own.”
(Church Refugees: Josh Packard Phd)
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